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AN ACCOUNT 



GIVEN BY THE 



SAINT NICHOLAS SOCIETY, 



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ON THE OCCASION OF THK VISIT OF THE 



Setlierkitfe Ifriijate /'friiis ban ©rauje/' 



AT NEW YORK, MAY, 1852. 



PKEPARED AND PUBLISHED 

B Y O R D E R C> ¥ T H E S O C I £ T Y 

1852 



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FRAKKLIN PRESS: 

BiLLIN AND BkOTIIEKS, PRINTERS, 20 NoRTH WlLHAM St., N. T. 



®iPi^I(CI!a 






uipuis 



OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, 



FOR THE YEAR 1862. 



OGDEN HOFFMAK. 

HAMILTON FISH, First Vice-President. 
JAMES H. KIP, Second Vice-President. 
JOHN W. FRANCIS, M. D., Third Vice-President. 
FREDERIC DE PEYSTER, Fourth Vice-President. 



SAMUEL JONES. 
WM. J. VAN WAGENEN. 
JACOB ANTHONY. 
JOHN W. LIVINGSTON. 
JAMES J. ROOSEVELT. 
CORNELIUS OAKLEY. 



SYLVESTER L. H. WARD. 
AMBROSE C. KINGSLAND. 
JAMES W. BEEKMAN. 
BENJAMIN H. FIELD. 
JOHN G. ADAMS, M. D. 
D. HENRY HAIGHT. 



%xmmtx, 

WILLIAM H. JOHNSON". 

CHARLES R. SWORDS. RICHARD E. MOUNT, JR. 

REV. THOMAS E. VERMILYE, D. D. 
REV. WILLIAM L. JOHNSON, D. D. 

BENJAMIN DRAKE, M. D. 
WILLIAM H. JACKSON, M. D. 

JOHN C. CHEESMAN, M. D, 
JAMES R, MANLEY, M. D. 

NICHOLAS LOW. PIERRE M. IRVING-. 

JOHN ROMEYN BRODHEAD. AUGUSTUS SCHELL. 

JOHN J. CISCO. WILLIAM J. BUNKER. 

AARON B. HAYS. 



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Jfrigate 



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Cammaniiaut. 

CAPTATN D. BYL DE YROE. 



J. C. DE CLOUX. 

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VAN OMMEN. JANSSEN. 

S.econ^-rIa:s.s liewtenants. 



YOS, 
DAMME. 



PAN. 

KLYJSrSMA. 



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BARON QUARLES DE QUARLES. 

Jirst-tlass liewtenaiit. 

ROOS. 

Sttrpait Paj,ar. 

VAN WYCK. 



LUCKE. 



VAN DER BOSSCHE. 

BARON" BRANTSEN. 

VAN HAERSOLTE, 

VAN ASPEREN, 

TROMP. 

DE KANTER. 



COSYN. 



LA FAILLE. 

MAAS. 

DINAUX. 

CRAMER. 

MULLER. 

BYL DE VROE. 



VAN NES. 



UMBGROVE 



WOLFSON. 




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Witha>ieA of New-Amsterdam (now New York) A 1) Ifetf 




DUTCH national vessel, the frigate 
" Prins Van Oranje," one of the noblest 
of her class, returning to Holland from 
a cruise in the West Indies, touched at 
the port of Norfolk, and while lying there it 
was announced through the papers that she 
would also visit New York. A number of the 
members of the Saint Nicholas Society deeming 
it an event of no small interest, both to themselves and 
the citizens at large, (it being the first occasion that a 
vessel of such magnitude belonging to the Dutch Navy 
had ever visited our waters,) and which called for 
some particular notice on the part of the Society, made 
a requisition upon the President for a special meeting, 
to take the subject into consideration. The call was 
promptly made, and the Society convened on Wednes- 
day evening. May 12, 1852. The following extracts 
from the minutes will show what action was taken in 
the premises. 

" The President stated that he had called the meet- 
ing in obedience to a requisition of the constitutional 
number of members, to consider the proper mode 
of noticing the arrival of a Dutch national vessel in 
our harbour — whereupon 

" Mr. E. Gr. Drake offered the following Preamble 
and Resolutions : 



" Whereas information has been received that a Dutch national 
vessel, the ' Prins Van Oranje,' will shortly arrive in this harbour — 
and while the peculiar associations of the Saint Nicholas Society with 
the Fatherland render some notice of the event gratifying to our- 
selves as descendants, and eminently due to them as its representa- 
tives, therefore 

'■'■Resolved, — That it is expedient and proper that this Society 
notice the arrival of the Dutch frigate, the ' Prins Van Oranje,' at 
this port. 

" i^esoZveo?,— That the most appropriate manner of so doing, will 
be by a Public Dinner to be given to its Captain and Officers, 

" Resolved, — That a Committee of Fifteen be appointed to carry 
out the foregoing resolutions, and issue the necessary invitations." 

These Resolutions were adopted, and the following- 
named gentlemen appointed on the Committee : 

Messrs. Samuel Jones, 

J. De Peyster Ogden', 

GuLiAN C, Verplanck, 

John A, King, 

Washington Irving, 

Richard PI, Ogden, 

Jacob R. Nevius, 

Elias G, Drake, 

Nicholas Low, 

John Romeyn Brodhead, 

Pierre M. Irving, 

John J. Cisco, 

Aaron B. Hays, 

Augustus Schell, 

Wm. J. Bunker, 

and the Treasurer and Secretary of the Society. 

At a subsequent quarterly meeting of the Society, 
held June 10th, 1852, the following Preamble and 
Resolutions, in relation to the Banquet, were offered 
for the consideration of the Society, by Mr. Wm. J. 
Van Wagenen, and adopted. 



(. Committee of Stewards. 



" Whereas it is desirable that an event of so much interest to the 
Society should not only be fully reported, but put in such shape as 
to make it historically correct, and worthy of preservation in the 
archives of the Society, — therefore 

" Resolved, — That a Committee of three, consisting of Messrs. J. 
Romeyn Brodhead, Wm. H. Johnson, and Charles R. Swords, be ap- 
pointed to prepare a full and correct report of said proceedings, to 
be published in pamphlet form for the use of the members." 

In compliance with their instructions, the Committee 
of Arrangements made the necessary preparations for 
a banquet, and appointed a sub-committee from their 
number to wait upon the Commandant on his arrival, 
and tender the invitation in the name of the Society. 

The frigate arrived on Sunday, the 16th of May. 
The Committee waited upon the Commandant by ap- 
pointment on the Tuesday following, were presented 
by the Dutch Consul-General, received with great 
courtesy and attention, and proffered the invitation, 
which was at once most cheerfully accepted. A more 
formal invitation, designating the day for the banquet, 
of which the following is a copy, was sent on the 
following morning, signed by all the Committee : 

New York, 3fay 19, 1852. 
Dear Sir: 

The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York beg leave to 
congratulate you, as Commander of the frigate P)-ince of Orange, 
bearing the flag of the Netherlands, on your arrival at New York. 

Descended from a comnion ancestry, and looking back with pride 
to the name and fame of the founders of our city, our Society hail 
with sincere satisfaction the appearance of your frigate on the waters 
of that Hudson which the same flag discovered and explored.] 

We are now charged as a Committee of our Society to ask of you, 
and your officers, to favour us with your company on Wednesday 
next, at a dinner which our members desire to give in honour of your 



arrival among us, and in testimony of our never-failing regard for 
the land you represent. 

With great consideration and respect, 

Your obedient servants, 

{^Signed,) Samuel Jones, 

James De Peyster Ogden, 
GuLiAN C. Verplanck, 
John A. King, 
Richard H. Ogden, 
Jacob R. Nevius, 
Elias G, Drake, 
Aaron B. Hays, 
Augustus Schell, 
John J. Cisco, 

J. ROMEYN BrODHEAD, 

Pierre M. Irving, 

William J. Bunker, 

Nicholas Low, 

William H. Johnson, 

Charles R. Swords. 

To THE Chevalier Byl de Vroe, \ 

In command of the Netherlands' Frigate, the Prince of Orange, f 

The Commandant sent the following answer : 

On Board H. D. M. Frigate, Prince of Orange, { 
Nev York Roads, 2.\st May, 1852. \ 

The commander and officers of H. D. M. Frigate Prince of Orange, 
will, with the utmost pleasure, make use of the kind invitation re- 
ceived from the members of the Saint Nicholas Society to partake 
of a dinner on Wednesday next. 

In answer to your request to know the number of officers and 
midshipmen who will have the intention to come, I have the honour 
to instruct you that a total number of seventeen persons, including 
myself, will be very happy to make use of your kind invitation. 

With great consideration and respect, 

Your obedient Servant, 

D. Btl de Vroe. 
To James De P. Ogdew, &c., <fec, <&c., at New York. 



5 

The banquet, wliicli was in all respects worthy of 
the occasion and of the Society, took place on the even- 
ing of Wednesday, the 26th May, at the Astor House. 
The great dining-hall was arranged and decorated 
with all that good taste and abundant resources could 
suggest and furnish. Three immense tables, spread 
the length of the hall, received the Society ; while a 
dais across the upper end was more especially the place 
of honour assigned to the distinguished guests. Over 
this dais^ on the entablature of the room, was inscribed, 
in large characters of German text, the motto of the 
Dutch Republic, " Eendeaght maakt magt," while, un- 
derneath, the flags of Holland and the United States 
gracefully supported in the centre a shield bearing the 
arms and motto of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. 
The walls and windows were beautifully draped and 
curtained with the tri-colour of Holland, red, white, 
and blue, the whole producing an effect as elegant as 
it was appropriate to the occasion. The Society's 
picture of New Amsterdam as it appeared in the 
year 1656, was the principal ornament of the east 
end of the hall, occupying almost its entire width. 
Immediately in front of the President was a minia- 
ture frigate, bearing the American flag at the peak 
and the Dutch flag at the fore, while by her side was 
a representation of the frigate "Prins Van Oranje" 
riding at anchor. Among the beautiful and appro- 
priate ornaments to the table, many of which were 
national in their character, and peculiarly adapted to 
revive the recollection of old customs and the olden 
time, the Castle of Nassau and a temple to the Patron 
Saint were conspicuous and much admired. Nor must 



tlie ancient and sable attendants upon the upper table 
be forgotten, who, as usual on all the festive occasions 
of the Society, dressed in their antique livery, formed 
so peculiar a " decoration^'' and interesting memento of 
the past. In fine, the appearance of the hall, when 
the tables were occupied by the Society and their 
guests, whose brilliant uniforms added greatly to the 
general effect, was indeed most imposing, and such as 
is rarely seen on any public occasion. 

The bountifully-spread table was all that the most 
fastidious could desire. 

At Y o'clock the members of the Society entered 
the hall, took their places at the table, and in a few 
minutes received, standing, the President and their 
guests, the fine band of Dodworth playing the '' Wil- 
helmus," a national air of Holland. 

Grace was impressively and eloquently said by the 
Rev. Wm. L. Johnson, D. D., one of the Chaplains of 
the Society. 

After full justice had been done to the substantial 
and elegant feast, the President, the Hon. Ogden Hoff- 
man, arose, and, assuming the venerable cocked hat, 
one of the insignia of his ofiice and emblems of his 
power over every son of Saint Nicholas, called upon 
the members of the Society to fill to the first regular 
toast, which was received with hearty enthusiasm, 
and loud and prolonged cheering. 

Toast 1. — The President of the United States. 

Music. — " Hail Columbia.'''' 



7 

After a few moments the President again arose, and 
proposed the second regular toast, which, like that 
to onr own chief magistrate, was hailed with acclama- 
tion. 

Toast 2. — The King of the Netherlands. 

Music. — " Het Volsklied." 

A most pleasing, and to the guests exceedingly 
interesting, incident here added much to the hilarity 
and enthusiasm of all present. Scarcely had the last 
note of the band ceased, when the report of a cannon 
from the ports of the frigate in front of the President, 
drew all eyes towards her, and it was found that she 
also was bearing her part in the festivities, in firing a 
full salute in honour of the toast and its representatives. 
So totally unexpected was the salute, and with such 
regularity and precision was it given, that it was some 
time before the enthusiasm it excited permitted the 
presiding officer to go on with the toasts. 

It is perhaps proper to say, that it was owing to 
the ingenuity of a celebrated pyrotechnist, whose 
crew, although out of sight, justified their " training." 

The Hon. Daniel Webster, who had arrived in town 
during the day, had been specially invited to be pres- 
ent, but had felt compelled from fatigue to decline 
the invitation. He was induced, after the removal of 
the cloth, to join the festive party for a short time, 
and now entered the hall, attended by the Hon. 
John A. King, ex-President of the Society, the whole 
company, officers and guests, rising, and cheering him 
to his seat, at the left of the President, with gratify- 
ing and honouring enthusiasm. 



8 

Mr. Hoffman, tlie President, again arose, and spoke 
as follows : 

Gentlemen of the Saint Nicliolas Society, we are 
assembled here to do honour to our guests, as the rep- 
resentatives of our Fatherland — a land distinguished 
by its bravery — by learning and by the arts — a land, 
which even the prejudiced Hume designated as " the 
oftspring of Industry and Liberty, whose deeds and 
history have held signal positions in the transactions 
of Europe" — a land immortalized by the obstinate and 
glorious defence of Leyden, and the answer of whose 
heroic defenders to the summons to surrender, " that 
it should never be, while they had one arm to eat 
and another to fight with," was surpassed by the 
moral sublimity of their demand for a University, as 
the sole reward of all their trials and all their suffer- 
ings. It is a land of learning, for it produced a Gro- 
tius and an Erasmus ; a land of enterprise, for its 
commerce has dotted the habitable world with its 
discoveries and its possessions ; a land of hospitality, 
for it welcomed the Pilgrim Fathers, when cast out 
and destitute, and sent them on their way to that 
Kock, which became the corner-stone of the noble 
State which has given to adorn our country, and illus- 
trate its annals, the distinguished gentleman whom I 
have the honour to have seated near me. \^Thi'S allu- 
sion to Mr. Webster ivas received ivitJi ringing applause^ 
It is indeed a land entitled to our admiration and 
our love ; and to strengthen the ties that bind us to 
her, and to perpetuate the customs and habits of our 
forefathers, this Society was instituted, and at our 
annual feast, on the natal day of our good Saint 
Nicholas, we are accustomed to mingle together, and 
pay our homage to Dutch honour and Dutch integ- 
rity, which have become with us household words. 



9 

It was fitting, therefore, when the noble frigate, the 
" Prince of Orange," arrived in our harbour, that onr 
Society should hasten to tender to her gallant Captain 
and his officers a banquet in their honour, and, in the 
name of our Society, (turning to the guests,) I bid 
you welcome. It must have been to you a proud 
thought, when you cast your anchor in our noble 
river, that it bore the name of that hardy mariner, 
who, under Dutch auspices, discovered and explored 
it. We w^elcome you as the representatives of the 
land whose triumphs have been over the ocean, as well 
as on the ocean, whose very territory is wrung from 
the grasp of the sea, and the conquest held by the 
ceaseless energy of your people. We welcome you 
as the representative of a navy whose annals have 
been emblazoned by the deeds of a Tromp and a De 
Ruyter ; and that the bravery of their fathers is not 
extinguished in their patriotic descendants, let the 
heroic exploit of the youthful Van Spyck, who 
blew up his vessel, rather than surrender, declare and 
testify. But, above all, we welcome you, sir, and 
your gallant officers, as brothers at a brother's board, 
and every thing you see around you is adopted to 
strengthen the fraternal ties which bind us to each 
other. 

After pleasantly alluding to the memorials of the 
olden time which were exhibited in the equipage and 
devices of the hall and of the table, the President, 
in the name of the Society of Saint Nicholas, re]3eated 
his cordial welcome, and gave — 

Toast 3. — Our Guests — the Commander and Officers of the 
" Prince of Orange." We welcome their frigate to our shores, and 
gi-eet with cordial congratulations our brethren of a common origin 
at our festive board. 



10 

There were nine good and hearty cheers given, 
with which the hall and corridors echoed, while the 
band played the most appropriate air — 

" We are a Band of Brothers." 

The Chevalier Byl de Vroe rose amid prolonged 
cheering, and responded as follows : 

I thank you for myself and the Officers under my 
command, for the hearty welcome we have received 
from these shores, all hailing from one Fatherland. It 
is pleasant to meet thus together at the festive board, 
among friends whose hospitality will never be for- 
gotten by us. Allow me, gentlemen, to propose — 

%\lt ,i0tut|| at Saint girl]0las. 

The President, at this stage of the proceedings, rose 
and asked leave to depart from the order of the 
toasts ; and alluding to the presence of the distinguished 
guest, whom they so unexpectedly found among them, 
Mr. Hoffman continued as follows : ; ;. . 

Before giving the next regular toast, I wish to 
present to the Society the distinguished guest whose 
presence has unexpectedly honoured our festive board. 
As Cornelia, the Roman matron, when asked for her 
jewels, pointed to her children, so to what jewel in 
all her family casket can New England more proudly 
point than to this "Koh-i-noor," this mountain of 
light, whose brilliancy has dazzled our land and been 
the admiration of the world. 



^ 



11 

I propose the health of Daniel Webster — his 
name is his eulogy. 

Amid continued plaudits and cheering Mr. Web- 
ster replied : 

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Saint Nicholas 
Society — I deem it a piece of great good fortune : 
this opportunity to pass a few moments with you. 
On coming into town, I had the honour to receive 
an invitation to be present at your dinner. I was 
obliged to decline because of my personal condition — 
I am a little disabled — I have not two arms — -I cannot 
say, like the glorious Dutch who defended Leyden, 
that I have one arm to eat and another with which 
to fight, but fortunately, gentlemen, as there is but 
little fighting to be done, I get on pretty well with 
one arm. 

Gentlemen, I am happy to be here. I am happy 
in recalling to my recollection all the early associations 
connected with the government of the Netherlands, 
and our own early history, when we were weak and 
depressed, and without means and credit, and found 
both in Holland. 

Your ancestors and your nation I shall never for- 
get, so long as I remember with gratitude any thing 
on earth. I never can forget that the Dutch yielded 
us sympathy — yielded us — as we say in our days — 
Tnaterial aid^ and when our prospects were threat- 
ened with blight, gave us the timely assistance of the 
sinews of war. I have ever felt kind sentiments 
towards that nation. My heart warms towards the 
government who helped us in our hour of extreme 
necessity. I have ever felt a deep interest in their 
fortunes — I have raised my voice and swung my hat 
for forty years for Oranje Boven. 



12 

Mr. Webster continued for some time, in a review 
of the example which Holland, in her early struggles 
for liberty, had given to the nations of the earth, and 
in eulogy of her sound and steadfast character, and 
concluded by oJffering as his sentiment : 

Captain De Vroe, of the Prince of Orange. — His Government 
and his Nation — and may Providence prosper them. 

Mr. Webster shortly after left the room, the whole 
company again rising and cheering enthusiastically 
until the door closed upon him. 

The fourth toast was then given. 

Toast 4. — The Land of our Ancestors and the Founders of 
OUR City. The sons of Saint Nicholas are proud to acknowledge 
their descent, and will never cease to cherish the fondest feelings of 
filial affection. 

Music. — " De Wilhebnusy 

The Hon. Gulian Crommelin Yerplanck, one of the 
former Presidents of the Society, responded. 

I have to thank you, Mr. President, and the Society, 
for the honour you confer upon me, in selecting me 
from your number to respond, on behalf of my fellow- 
members, to that toast in grateful memory of the 
founders of our city in which we have just joined. 
I could wish that your choice had fallen upon some 
other member who could with better voice than I 
have at present, and a more eloquent tongue — though, 
I trust, not with truer heart — have responded to this 
grateful sentiment. It is indeed no light debt of 
gratitude that we of this Society and this city have to 
acknowledge to our venerable and excellent ancestors ; 
for they left us a rich legacy indeed, in their honour- 
able example of far-seeing sagacity, their hardy enter- 
prise, their patient perseverance, their wise and careful. 



13 % 

yet beneficent economy, their quiet domestic virtues, 
and, above all, in tbeir pure and strict and stainless 
integrity. The rich results, the abundant fruits of 
these unostentatious but precious qualities, we are 
now enjoying; for although thousands of other active 
and strong hands — Anglo-Saxon from Old England 
and from New England, French and German, Teutonic, 
Scandinavian and Celtic, men of all tongues and nations 
— have toiled together to build up the golden throne 
of commerce upon our rocky island, the deep and broad 
foundations of that imperial structure were laid long 
before on the sands and rocks of our Manhattan, by 
the hands of these men of patient labour and of wise 
enterprise, to whose virtues and memory we have just 
rendered our grateful tribute. In the industrious and 
frugal inhabitants of the busy little village of Meuw 
Amsterdam, such as it was sketched by Vanderdonk, 
in 1656, and in their grandchildren, the thriving and 
not less industrious citizens of the prosperous little 
town of New York, in 1750, we hail the early founders 
of the commercial and maritime and financial greatness 
of the emporium of 1852. 

But in acknowledging, as citizens of this goodly 
city, our deep obligations to its Batavian founders, I 
cannot but feel — we must all feel — that these obliga- 
tions swell, and are destined to continue to swell, far 
beyond our municipal limits, or even those of our 
State, so that we, the sons of Saint Nicholas, the natives 
of what was once New Amsterdam, and sprung from 
its older stock, are here the representatives of a much 
larger community in our good State of New York, 
and of the sons of New York, scattered over our 
whole continent, who have to acknowledge other obli- 
gations to Holland — in which, too, we participate — 
weightier, grander, of a more large and national char- 



14 

acter than any which are suggested by mere city or 
local feeling. We must all of us have remarked that 
of late years the rapid increase of the population and 
power of our Union has rendered it an object of 
national pride to the writers and orators of England, 
and other lands, to claim the production of whatever 
on this side of the Atlantic seems worth claiming as 
belonging to their own influence, or teaching, or their 
own blood. Thus we often hear bold, and not a little 
variant statements of the origin of the races which 
now people the wide extent of our Union. Old 
England has more than once, from her highest places 
of power or learning or her church, claimed as her 
own kindred our whole race, and pronounced the 
liberties and laws and varied blessings we now enjoy 
to be part and parcel of the glories of the Anglo- 
Saxon stock, in which no other blood or race has a 
right to share. I yield to no one in respect and grat- 
itude to the land of the Pilgrim Fathers — to the 
nation who gave us the language and the literature 
of Shakspeare and Milton — who taught us the prin- 
ciples of republican and constitutional liberty through 
the examples and writings of Hampden and Sydney. 

But there is another side to this question, and as 
extreme as that just stated. The magnitude of the 
vast recent emigration to this country has so staggered 
the imagination of some, that we appear to them but 
one vast camp of emigrants, with their children in the 
first generation, and in speeches and essays and grave 
disquisitions the people of the United States have been 
made out to be one half German and more than one 
half Celts. Again I must claim to yield to no one in 
estimation of the value of our vast recent emigration, 
whether Celtic, Teutonic, Scandinavian, or of other 
European races which I see sweeping its broad current 



15 # 

across tlie Atlantic to our sliores, monthly, weekly, 
daily. 

Yet a very little study of the huge unrhetori- 
cal volumes of our decennial census will show great 
exaggeration on all sides,— an exaggeration quite 
natural as long as one side only of the subject is 
looked at,— and will dissipate many plausible and 
popular assertions. Such an examination will show 
that in spite of the immense accession to our popula- 
tion within the last few years, that number, even add- 
ing their children of the first generation, are but a 
fragmentary part of our whole population, the very 
far greater part of whom draw their descent from the 
older colonial stocks : from the earlier Teutonic emi- 
grants to this State and Pennsylvania, from the Anglo- 
Saxon and Anglo-Norman at the East and the South, 
and (not to be forgotten among them) the French emi- 
gration of the beginning of the last century, and that 
of our Batavian race during the century preceding. 

These several races of earlier settlers, as we know 
by unquestionable historical or documentary evidence, 
went on in the rapid progression of doubling and 
redoubling their number every twenty, or at most 
every twenty -five years. It is that simple arithmetical 
rule of progression which excites every schoolboy's 
wonder in the problem of the cent for the first nail 
in the horse-shoe, doubling onwards for each additional 
one as the price of the horse, until the sum swells to 
astounding millions ; this simple rule of numbers ex- 
plains the fact, which the evidence of population 
returns, more or less regular at different periods of our 
history, clearly establishes, that the very great majority 
of our present population draw their descent from 
these earlier stocks, which have doubled and redoubled 
their numbers six, eight, or ten times. 



"• 16 

Amongst tliese several races, now twined and bound 
together by mingled blood, and affinities, interests, 
affections, recollections common to all, the old 
Batavian race is entitled to claim no insignificant 
share of our national origin. 

Statistical and historical writers seem hardly to be 
aware of the importance of this element in our national 
composition. 

Yet we can trace the seven or eight thousand Hol- 
landers who passed from the sovereignty of their 
native land in 1664 to that of England, increased by 
some subsequent Dutch colonists, when William of 
Orange became William III. of Great Britain — be- 
coming, in 1776, a majority probably — certainly the 
most numerous single race in two of the new United 
States, New Jersey and New York. 

In the seventy-six years which have since elapsed, 
those numbers have continued to enlarge themselves. 
Their streams, mingling with those from other, sources, 
have overflowed the bounds of their original States, 
far over to the West, and still rush onward, wave after 
wave, to the Pacific. Thus it is hardly to be doubted, 
— though the statement, I suspect, would excite some 
surprise at Amsterdam, Leyden, or the Hague, — that 
we, old native citizens of these United States, and of 
Batavian descent, already exceed in number the inhab- 
itants of Holland proper, and are rapidly approaching, 
if we have not already equalled, the whole population 
of the kingdom, which in twenty years more we shall 
far outnumber. 

Thus it is that hundreds of thousands, I might 
almost say that millions, of the native citizens of this 
Union can claim you and your countrymen, our hon- 
oured guests, as their kindred, hail your Fatherland 
as that of their fathers, and rejoice in the honours and 



. 17 

blessings of our ancient blood. I say unhesitatingly, 
the honours and blessings of our ancient hlood; for 
however frequently the influence of old and time- 
honoured descent is seen to fail shamefully in the 
individual who boasts of his high birth, yet that 
influence of blood in the masses, in its wide and 
general effect upon the race, is sure and clear and 
strong. That influence and effect, as well as that of 
'the example, the character and mind of Holland, are, I 
think, to be found conspicuous in the history and 
character and present civil and political condition of 
our State and our nation, and in acknowledo^ino; them 
we are not merely the representatives of our absent 
brethren of the Americo-Batavian blood, but of our 
whole confederated people of every lineage and race. 
Look back to the great struggle of our Independ- 
ence and to the glorious old Congress of 1775, which 
formed that federative system that gave us a real 
national existence, and still forms the basis of our 
Federal Government ; that old Congress which through 
war, and poverty, and discord, " darkness before 
and danger's voice behind," conducted this people to 
peace and liberty. Where did that glorious old Con- 
gress find its examples of action and its models of 
government ? I should be the last to deny our obli- 
gations to the great lights of English liberty, to the 
men of her two revolutions, whose spirit the patriots 
of our revolution had imbibed, and whose doctrines 
and even words have been embodied in the State 
papers and declarations of 1775 and 1776. Yet in 
other respects our revolution had little analogy with 
that of Great Britain. Where, in English, or in any 
other history, was to be found the example of a num- 
ber of subject provinces uniting in a struggle for their 
rights, not against a monarch merely, but against a 



18 

powerful metropolitan sovereign nation, and, in that 
struggle, becoming themselves a powerful nation? 
What parallel, what model is to be found for that 
glorious old Congress of 1775, its difficulties, its 
labours, and its triumphs? There is one and but one. 
That one parallel is to be found in the history of the 
difficulties, the labours, the achievements, and the 
final triumjDh of another as glorious old Congress of 
united revolted provinces springing up into confed- 
erated States, just two centuries before our Declara- 
tion of Independence — the glorious old States-General 
of the United Netherlands. 

Historians do scant justice in tracing out the influ- 
ence and extent of their example npon our history 
and institutions. The whole frame of our revolution- 
ary government was obviously modelled upon that of 
the States-General. Similarity of circumstances, doubt- 
less, contributed of necessity to the similarity of action 
in some of its larger features. But I have been struck, 
in reading the journals of Congress, the diplomatic cor- 
respondence, and other state papers of that period, with 
the frequent evident resort to the model of the Dutch 
Republic. Some of these are slight in themselves, yet 
they are of that more delicate sort of evidence which 
the experienced lawyer, or the critic in art or letters, 
often finds more irresistible than the most direct testi- 
mony. There was not merely the resemblance of the 
general frame of government between the two con- 
federations, but it is to be traced in the language and 
form of our constitution, our treaties, and our laws and 
resolutions ; in the style and character of our diplo- 
matic correspondence, and even in the simple cere- 
monial of our then government ; as in its fashion of 
receiving foreign ministers and addressing crowned 
heads. Like the burgher rulers of Holland, the chiefs 



19 

of our revolution, plain and untitled at home, claimed 
to be addressed from abroad as " High and Mighty," 
Hooglh moogende lieereii ; and to address as equals, as 
they still do, any friendly monarch in the style of old 
Dutch diplomacy, as " Great and Good Friend." 

The principles of that original confederation of our 
States, drawn from that of the Seven Provinces of 
the United Netherlands, are still perpetuated in a 
form better adapted to the wants of a powerful 
commonwealth ; and we must thus own our Batavian 
fathers as our instructors in the grand political lesson 
of combining the advantages of local and state ad- 
ministration with the strength and majesty of a 
national existence. 

Again; let us return to the banks of our own 
Hudson, and look over our State, whose commerce has 
outstripped that of any of her sisters, in whose ter- 
ritory internal improvement was first successfully 
attempted on any extended scale, and where its results 
have been so splendid. Can we not here, too, mark 
the influence of that same blood, and the effects of 
that same example ? 

I have already adverted to the influence of that 
Dutch blood, character, morals, sagacity in render- 
ing this New Amsterdam what old Amsterdam was 
in her high and palmy state of commercial glory — the 
mart of nations, the exchange of the world. Without 
entering on the invidious task of disputing with other 
races their just share in contributing to this brilliant 
result, it is enough to say, what our whole city history 
proves, that much of this result is owing to our Bata- 
vian race. But enough of what is about and around 
us : let us turn our eyes inland. Look along the great 
lines of canals which specially distinguish our State. 
See them connecting the ocean with the inland seas 



20 

—ending in or connected witli harbours almost formed 
by the skill of the hydraulic engineer, around which 
are rising cities ready to vie with those of the Atlan- 
tic coast. 

What do we see in all this— especially when we 
compare these results with the less happy underta- 
kings of the same sort in other States, nowise in- 
ferior to our own in natural wealth, or in the resources 
of science, art, and practical skill— what do we see in 
all this but the working out of the instincts of our 
original race. 

That we owe something of the boldness, extent, and 
success of our hydraulic labours to the instincts of 
national blood, seems marked by the striking fact, 
(amongst many others,) that in these labours, too early 
for success, but yet the prophetic harbinger of the 
greater future, we first find prominent the name of 
General Schuyler ; whilst the name of Dewitt Clinton, 
so gloriously connected with the successful completion 
of our grandest works, equally marks his descent on 
the maternal side from the land of hydraulic science 
and enterprise. 

Surely this peculiar characteristic of our New York 
State policy stamps us with the indelible lines of that 
same national character shown by the men who in 
the midst of the perilous and doubtful war of their 
independence, could execute those works which ex- 
cited the admiration of old Dugdale, the father of 
English hydraulic science, nearly two centuries ago. 
I speak of the draining of the Beemster, the Waert, 
Schermer, the Purmere, and the Wormer ; and the same 
mind has perpetuated itself in the LeegJiwater^ the 
Cnigires and the Van Lyndens of our own day. We 
dug our " big canal" in the same spirit and under the 
same instinct (perhaps what naturalists would call an 



21 

acquired instinct, not natural at first, but, wlien ac- 
quired, descending as a natural one) as our ancestors 
and those of the j)resent men of Holland executed their 
great works of the 16th and 17th centuries, and as 
their grandchildren, our worthy cousins, have just 
drained the Haerlem Lake, and are now labouring on 
the magnificent enterprise of adding the oozy bottom 
of the Zuyder Zee to the fertile soil of Holland. 

Whilst, then, the authors and orators of England 
proudly claim (and not without their share of right) 
the institutions, and intellect, and the very people 
of the United States, as amongst the noblest hon- 
ours of the' Anglo-Saxon race, let not the patriots 
and scholars of Holland shrink from demanding 
for their own ancestry their due portion of the 
same honours. If, as I fear may still be the case — as I 
well know it was some few years ago — the mind of Hol- 
land is not awakened to the facts I have briefly stated, 
as being in fact parts of her own history, yet this 
indifference or neglect cannot long continue. This 
very festive occasion, and the sentiments it calls 
forth — you yourselves, our honoured guests, will 
remind your countrymen of these things. These and 
other similar facts will be presented to them far more 
impressively than I can do it, by their own writers 
and speakers, until the cordial feeling of mere kindred 
and brotherhood becomes mixed with an honest pride 
in all of worth or value in the character, or works, or 
deeds of all on this side of the Atlantic, who, drawing 
their descent from the men of old Holland, have trod 
in the footsteps of those ancestors, 

" Led by theii* light, and by their wisdom wise." 



Thus, whilst we the American offspring of old Bata- 
via are proud to acknowledge the blessings and honours 



22 

wliicli we and our country liave derived from that 
ancient and honoured Fatherland, her own native sons 
will hail these blessings and honours as so many 
freshly added glories to the just renown of our com- 
mon ancestry. 

Yes, the day is approaching, it is even now at hand, 
Avhen, on the great national festivals of Holland, in her 
solemn religious services on public occasions, or on the 
rostra of her ancient universities on their seasons of 
academic Gcmdia^ these fresher transatlantic trophies 
of Batavian honour will be proudly blended with the 
glorious memories of the ]3ast. When the patriotic 
orator, in that lofty and sonorous eloquence to which 
their language is so well adapted, recounts the great 
deeds of the men of other days — when he relates the 
long struggles under Maurice and the Williams of 
Orange against the giant poAvei's of Spain or France ; 
when he numbers up the scholars and jurists and states- 
men of Holland, such as Grotius the legislator of nations, 
and Dewitt the model of republican diplomatists and 
rulers ; when he points to the lights of art which have 
shed their lustre over his country, and recites that 
long list of artists worthy to follow the great name of 
Rembrandt ; when he has, in words of fire, described 
Tromp and De Ruyter triumphing successfully over 
every navy of Europe, and, at last pouring out their 
life-blood under their own beloved flag ; when he has 
expatiated on the lives of honourable integrity and the 
deeds of heroic perseverance of whole generations of 
private citizens who have left no name in history, 
but whose works are as wide and as enduring as their 
own native land, which they almost created — the 
orator will pause a moment in his glowing theme, and 
will add, " Yet these are but a portion of the treasures 
of our country's glory. Turn we from the heroic 



23 

past to tlie glowing present, and its sure and still 
grander future." He will then direct tlie thouglits of 
his audience across the wide Atlantic. He will show 
to them, in that clear vision which eloquence can raise 
before "the mind's eye," the swarming streets, the 
loaded wharves, the stately warehouses of New 
Amsterdam, with its circling port, now white w^ith 
myriads of sails, or gay with the flags of every nation, 
whose unknown wave was first broken by the solitary 
keel which bore hither Hendrick Hudson under the 
old tri-coloured flag of Holland. He will guide their 
eyes along the great lines of artificial communication, 
the slow canals hard by the rapid railroad, uniting 
the ocean to the great inland seas. He will bid them 
mark thousands and hundreds of thousands (in some 
few years later he will speak of millions) there 
rejoicing in the name and blood of old Holland. He 
will recount the names amongst that Americo-Batavian 
race honourably connected with their country's his- 
tory, arms, arts, laws, or letters. He will call upon 
his hearers to speed their thoughts into further dis- 
tance and after-time, and view the children of these 
thousands spreading themselves over forest and field 
and flood, from ocean to ocean, in a congeries of inde- 
pendent, self-governing, but united states. He will 
show how in that national Union, throughout all its 
stages, might be found the results of the genius and 
experience of the ancient Fathers of Dutch Independ- 
ence. 

Then, summing up the whole, with patriotic pride, 
he will add, " These, too, oh, beloved Fatherland, these, 
too, are amongst the treasures and the trophies of 
thy well-earned glory." 

Mr. President and honoured guests, I will detain 
you no longer, for I have trespassed already upon your 



• 24 

kind attention. I will only ask you to join me in a 
toast, summoning up in brief the thoughts that I 
have so vaguely and imperfectly presented. It has at 
least one merit — that of containing more feeling, 
more facts, and thoughts than I could find words to 
express. 

Our beloved and venerated Batavian Fatherland. 

When she takes an account of the rich treasures 
of her ancient glory — when her authors and orators 
recount the long list of her great scholars, divines, 
artists, statesmen, and heroes, and describe their noble 
works and deeds on land and at sea, in arms and arts, 
in letters and science — when they narrate the still 
greater deeds and works of her whole heroic and per- 
severing people, in rescuing their liberties from op- 
pressors, and their very soil from the ocean, — may 
she never have cause to forget that many of the most 
magnificent results of her national character, influence, 
and genius are to be seen in these United States, where, 
from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific, generation after 
generation of her children in still increasing thousands 
and millions, arise, and will arise to " to call her hlessedT 

The fifth toast was then given : 

Toast 5. — The " Half-Moon" and the " Prince of Orange." 
Two centuries and a half ago the former displayed the pioneer flag 
of Holland on our Hudson. This day our Society rejoices to meet 
the latter, bearing on the same waters the honoured colours of the 
Netherlands. 

Lieut. Van Ommen responded briefly — alluding to 
the Society's picture of New Amsterdam, with 
its few scattered houses and Indian stockade, and 



25 

contrasting it witli the mighty city whicli had sprung 
up from so small a beginning, offered the following : 

The City of New York. — May her future increase be, compara- 
tively, as great as the New York of the present day is to the New 
Amsterdam represented in the picture before us. 

The Consul-General, Mr. Zimmerman, also responded 
as follows : 

Mr. President — Often as I have enjoyed the hospi- 
tality of your most respectable Society, I had never 
reason to offer my thanks with more gratified feelings 
than on the present occasion, surrounded as I am by 
so many of my countrymen, your honoured guests. 
The honourable tribute to the land of my birth which 
I have listened to this evening, and the eloquent strain 
in which they were uttered by you, sir, convince me 
more and more that the memory of the Fatherland 
of the ancestors of so many of you remains fresh in 
your hearts ; and allow me to say, that the present 
generation is not unworthy of that strong attachment. 
The noble deeds of our forefathers have also been 
imitated by their descendants. I shall not allude to 
their deeds of valour in our own time, but to that 
love of order and strong attachment to their sovereign 
constitution during that fearful period, only four short 
years since, when the continent of Europe was shaken 
to its centre by revolutions, and on the verge of ruin, 
they stood firm in their faith to country and laws ; 
and as for rational liberty, I make bold to say, that 
no country on the face of the earth enjoys this bless- 
ing more than they do. 

You have, sir, with your wonted eloquence, alluded 
to the feats of our Navy in former times ; I trust that 
the noble specimen at present in this harbour, and the 
officers belonging to her, will convince you that, when 



26 "^ 

called upon, they will do their duty also. Those gen- 
tlemen for whom I entertain a sincere regard, have 
re]3eatedly expressed to me their gratitude for the 
many attentions and hospitality that they have re- 
ceived during their short sojourn in this country, and 
particularly in this city, where, as they observed, they 
feel themselves quite at home. 

In conclusion, I beg leave to offer the following 
toast : 

The City of New York. — May it always grow in prosperity as it 
has in magnitude. 

It was further responded to by J. De Peyster Og- 
den, Esq., ex-President of the Society. 

Toast 6. — The Army and Navy of the Ukited States. 

Music. — " The Star Spangled Banner.'''^ 

Responded to by Major Fraser : 

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Saint Nicholas 
Society — In rising to respond to the toast just given, 
I cannot but express great regret that the represent- 
atives of the Army who were expected to be present 
on this occasion should have been obliged to decline. 
I regret this, because I wished to see the Army well 
represented here ; and I know, among those invited, 
some who are able at all times to do credit to them- 
selves and the service to which they belong. But, 
Mr. President, the motto of my corps, is " Essay ons ;" 
I therefore, in conformity with its spirit, assume now 
a task which under different circumstances I would 
gladly see imposed on some other. 

Our little Army is scattered over an immense extent 
of country, and many of our posts are in retired and 
desolate positions. Our duties are of the most varied 
character, and none but those practically acquainted 



27 

with them can form any idea of the great amount of 
labour, both mental and physical, endured by the offi- 
cers as well as men. The Indians within our borders, 
restless and dissatisfied as many of them are, can 
never be left wholly to themselves ; for whilst in 
some parts of the country they are apparently 
peaceable and submissive, in others they are actually 
in arms, and are constantly requiring the severest 
punishment to be reduced to obedience. The emi- 
grants, as they wind their way across the plains, seek- 
ing homes in the far West, never fail to look to us for 
aid, and the Mexicans even, on our frontiers, are by 
treaty stipulations fully authorized to seek our protec- 
tion. One branch of the service is engaged in car- 
rying on an extensive system of fortifications, and 
studying every thing in relation to the land defences 
of the country; another in acquiring topographical 
information of the most important character, and ex- 
j)loring and making known the resources of our re- 
motest regions. Another devotes itself wholly to the 
subject of armament, allowing no improvements in 
that department to escape observation, and fulfilling, 
in a highly satisfactory manner, the great trust re- 
posed in it by the Government. The Coast Survey, 
a work of the greatest value to the commercial in- 
terests of the nation, exercises the scientific knowledge 
of some of our officers ; and in not a few instances the 
skill and talents of the diplomatist must blend with the 
qualities of the soldier. A few years ago our garri- 
sons extended but a short distance beyond the Missis- 
sippi ; now we occupy the wilds of New Mexico, Cali- 
fornia, and Oregon. Still, Mr. President and Gentle- 
men, the duties of the Army are all performed with 
alacrity and cheerfulness, and all we ask is, that it may 
be said of us, " Well done, good and faithful servants." 



28 

The result of tlie Mexican War was a vast increase 
to our territory, and witli this increase came new 
duties and new responsibilities. In these the Army 
largely share, and I may safely assert that the claims 
upon it are now three-fold greater than at any pre- 
vious jDeriod of peace. If the duties of a government 
increase, so must its expenses ; and if the Army be 
now called upon to do more, is it reasonable to sup- 
pose that there need be no corresponding charge in 
its expenditures ? Yet in the face of this principle, 
which is as clear as the sun at noon-day, Congress last 
year decreed that the Army should perform all its 
ordinary duties, at a cost of between two and three 
millions less than the estimates. And althousrh a 
deficiency could not but be anticipated, no sooner is 
a bill for this purpose introduced, than the halls 
of legislation resound with accusations of the most 
flagrant kind against some of the Staff Departments. 
Wasteful extravagance and lavish expenditure of the 
public moneys are imputed to them, nor is there any 
hesitation in charging officers themselves with the 
grossest corruption. If individual cases exist, the rem- 
edy is simple : bring the culprit to justice, and purge 
the service of such unworthy members ; but cast not 
reflections upon a body of honourable men, because of 
the acts of one or two. 

But, Mr. President and Gentlemen, I must not con- 
sume my time in speaking of ourselves and our own 
interests. The Saint Nicholas Society is rendering 
honour this evening to the representatives of a foreign 
nation — a nation long distinguished for its commercial 
greatness ; its profound expounders of law ; its noble 
deeds of daring, both on sea and land, and for the 
firmness and resolution with which at all times it de- 
fended the principles of the faith. Among admirals. 



29 

wlien has the world produced a superior to Tromp or 
De Ruyter?— among engineers, one more conspicuous 
than Coehorne ? What civilized nation does not bow 
with reverence to the authority of Grotius and Puffen- 
dorf ? and who can estimate how far both England and 
the United States are indebted for the liberal institu- 
tions they now enjoy, to those very principles of free- 
dom so fiercely contended for, and so triumphantly 
established, by the Hollanders. Do the people of 
Louisiana, and others residing on the banks of the 
Mississippi, seek protection against the dreadful ravages 
of its annual overflow, let them study the dykes of Hol- 
land, and learn wisdom from them. 

If, gentlemen, our Army has succeeded in winning 
for itself a distinguished name, more is due to the 
illustrious warriors of the Old World than to ourselves. 
We have but followed their example and 2:)rofited by 
their experience. They are the teachers, we the 
scholars ; although, in this case, it may be admitted 
without arrogance, that " the seed fell on good soil, 
and brought forth abundantly." And here, gentle- 
men, permit me to bear testimony to the pleasing 
fact, that the European Governments generally vie 
with each other in attention and courtesy to such of 
our officers as may be travelling abroad under orders, 
to improve themselves in professional knowledge. 
No narrow-mindedness is exhibited. Their dock- 
yards, their arsenals, their laboratories, their fortifica- . 
tions, are thrown open for inspection. The results of 
experiments are cheerfully communicated, reviews are 
given them, and all the interior economy of their 
armies is freely displayed before them. Such liberal- 
ity ought not to be overlooked, and it is therefore 
fitting on our part to extend j^roper civilities to such 
of the officers of these nations as may visit our shores. 



30 

I am proud to see tliat tlie arrival of His Majesty's 
Frigate, " Prince of Orange," at our port, lias not been 
passed by unnoticed, and that the members of the 
Saint Nicholas Society have availed themselves of this 
circumstance to prove to the world that they are not 
ungrateful. But, gentlemen, in this you are doing 
much more : you are flaying a fitting tribute to the 
Fatherland — to the home of your ancestors. You are 
showing your cousins over the waters what you and 
your fathers have been doing here. You are reviving 
associations of the past, and re-establishing a bond of 
fellowship and a feeling of mutual interest which will 
cease only with life itself. 

Allow me to close my remarks by giving you the 
following toast : 

The Flag of Holland. — Centuries ago it floated triumphantly 
over the seas ; the maintenance of its sacred honour is now entrusted 
to those who have not degenerated from the virtues of their ancestors. 

Lieut. Henry Walke, of the Navy, also responded 
as follows : 

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Saint Nicholas 
Society — In thanking you for the honour conferred 
upon our Navy, on this joyous occasion, of welcoming 
the gallant officers of the frigate " Prince of Orange," I 
must regret that this honoured position is not occupied 
by an officer of higher rank and distinction, to make 
a response Avorthy of the call. 

I will not occupy much of your time, however, in 
attempting to make an interesting speech ; the many 
associations which unite this city, of which we are so 
proud in the New World, with the Fatherland, renders 
it peculiarly fitting that we should give those a hearty 
welcome to the waters over which their flag first 
floated, and which their keels first divided. I hope 



31 

and believe tliat, througli the politeness of our city au- 
tliorities, through your generous hospitality, and the ci- 
vilities extended to them during their limited stay here, 
by our citizens, they have been made to feel at home 
among us ; and that they carry back the assurances 
that neither the commerce, energy, and industry, or 
the open hospitality of the good citizens of New Am- 
sterdam have discredited the land of their forefathers. 
In fact, we ourselves think, that in moderating some- 
what the prejudices which Diedrich Knickerbocker 
so humorously tells us existed in the minds of the 
early Dutch governors — we think we have even im- 
proved upon them. In thanking you in behalf of the 
Navy, gentlemen, permit me to offer as a toast — 

May the citizens of Holland and her plethoric daughter always 
meet as they should meet, with the kindness of blood-relations. 

The President then gave, with a few appropriate in- 
troductory remarks, the seventh toast : 

Toast 7. — The Dutch Navy. Renowned in its commanders — 
distinguished in its Jichievements : it has nobly struggled for the 
freedom of the seas. 

Music. 

The Chevalier Commandant De Vroe responded : 

We, as the representatives of the Dutch Navy, can- 
not but be flattered by your kind allusion to it ; let 
us then hope that the same good feeling which has ex- 
isted uninterrupted for so many years, may continue to 
the end of time, and that our flags may together wave 
in peace and unity. I propose 

The American Navy. 
The eighth toast was then given : 



32 

Toast 8. — New Amsterdam. The commercial spirit and the lib- 
eral principles of old Amsterdam are felt and realized in the enlight- 
ened enterprise of the city she founded. 

" Music. — " Home., sioeet home,'''' 

Responded to by his Honour the Mayor, Ambrose 
C. Kmgsland : 

Mr. President-—! respond to that sentiment with 
unbounded pleasure, for I can conceive of no higher 
compliment which can be paid to our great and grow- 
ing city, than to compare her favourably to the great 
commercial city of the Old World, Amsterdam^ whose 
merchants for ages past have held the highest and pro- 
foundest rank among the nations of the earth. 

Yes^ gentlemen, the commercial spirit and liberal 
principles of old Amsterdam are felt and realized in 
the city founded by her ; and how could it be other- 
wise, when from generation to generation the spirit 
and enterjDrise of the early founders of our metropolis 
have descended unimpaired and undiminished. 

Having in my veins a remnant of the blood of that 
ancient and honoured race of men who came from 
Holland to this country when a wilderness, inhabited 
by savage tribes of Indians, and who, in characteristic 
Christian honesty, obtained their lands, not by con- 
quest, but hy purchase^ and laid the foundation of this 
city, I cannot refrain from expressing my heartfelt 
pleasure at the occasion which has called us together, 
and that as well because of the presence of many and 
esteemed citizens and friends, as that they bear the 
time-honoured name of Sain^t Nicholas, the sainted 
j^atron of the Society, renowned for its social, be- 
nevolent, and laudable objects, as, also^ because of our 
foreign friends and distinguished guests. We are 
pleased to see in our harbour and in the river (to 



83 

wliicli the adventurous Hudson gave liis name) tlie 
large and gallant frigate, a beautiful specimen of naval 
architecture, from Holland, — tlie Fatherland of this 
Society. 

We are reminded of the time of Holland's ancient 
naval glory, as also of her adventurous commercial 
and Christian sons, (from whom we have descended,) 
who founded this Empire City on the principles of 
law, order, justice, and religious freedom. 

New Amsterdam, gentlemen, is but in her youth, 
scarcely out of her teens, and when she shall reach 
her full growth, and when she does acquire maturity 
of years, and taken hereafter she shall be spoken of as 
an old city, who can prognosticate her greatness ? 
who can fix a limit to her influence, when she shall be 
the commercial emporium of the world? I thank 
you for the honour of designating me to respond to 
such a sentiment, and wishing it could have been 
assigned to some one more capable of doing it justice. 
I close by giving as a sentiment — 

The Dutch Traders of Fort Amsterdam — the worthy founders 
pf the greatest commercial city of the New World. 

The President then gave, with a few remarks, the 
ninth toast : 

Toast 9. — " Je maintiendrai" — the noble motto of the Nether- 
lands. She will hold fast by her faith — her escutcheon will never be 
tarnished. 

Music. — " Wien Neerlandsch BloedP 

It had been expected that the Dutch Charge at 
"Washington, the Baron Testa, would have been 
present to reply to this toast. The following note, 
addressed to the chairman of the Committee of Invi- 
tation, will explain his absence : 



34 

7 Waverley Place. 



May mh, 1852, ) 
:e. J 



Sm, 

Much to my regret, my health does not allow me to attend 
the Festival of this evening. Please send my apologies to the hon- 
ourable members of the Saint Nicholas Society. Lieut. Van Ommen, 
of the Dutch Navy, will be so kind as to read my reply to the ninth 
toast, if you find no objection. 

With great respect, 

Your most obedient, 

F. Testa. 
J. D. P. OoDEiiF, Esq., &c,, &c. 

Lieutenant Van Ommen, after apologizing for the 
aibsence of tlie national representative, read in Ms 
behalf the following response : 

After the many tributes of respect already paid to 
Holland here, this has also its great value, and I think 
I must express to you, gentlemen, my thanks for it, 
and I do so in behalf of my countrymen, as well 
present as absent. 

They mean much, those two words, in their brevity 
and simplicity, as they are read under the escutcheon 
of the Netherlands ; and you give them a sense that 
excites in us a generous feeling whenever you connect 
them, as you do, with the mention of our faith and 
untarnished honour. 

Yes, gentlemen, by that which is most sacred on 
earth and in heaven, Holland will ever be true to 
herself; clouds, in the political world, may cast a 
passing shade over her escutcheon, no lasting shame 
shall ever tarnish it. 

This motto, tTe maintiendrai^ whose origin, if I do 



35 

not mistake, is to be traced to tlie august family that 
so long presided, with as much honour as glory, over 
our destinies, reminds us at once for what we are 
indebted to the Princes of Orange, and for what we 
may always confidently look to them. 

This motto, whenever we turn our eyes towards it, 
reminds us at once of the oaths of our princes, of our 
rights and duties as citizens; it also reminds our 
j)rinces of their duties in peace and war. 

This motto carries to other nations the impres- 
sion of an indomitable constancy in the defence of our 
rights whenever assailed, — in the defence of our 
territory or independence. 

In one word, gentlemen, our whole history, our 
recollections, our entire mode of political existence, 
are to be comprehended in the meaning of these two 
words — Je Qiiaintiendrai ,' and it follows after your 
kind courtesy, as well as it is a mark of the high 
sense of your good taste, to have included them in the 
toasts to be given on this occasion. 

But true, faithful, persevering as he is in all other 
things, — and this I must be allowed to say, however 
it sounds as uncalled-for praise to my countrymen, — 
the Hollander is, in the first place, constant in his 
aifections and his friendships ; and this should tell you, 
gentlemen, the nature and sensibility of the attach- 
ment he bears you, even if the affinity of blood was 
not for you a pledge of his sympathies. 

Yes, gentlemen, Holland appears to me as a kind 
and tender mother, who loves you, and looks upon 
you with that sweet sentiment called maternal pride. 

Why should she not feel proud of you, whilst by 
common consent you are considered to constitute one 
of the best elements of that numerous population that i 
covers this great continent ? i 



36 

I repeat it, Holland is proud of you, — justly proud 
of her noble descendants. And could she be other- 
wise, when she sees you connect with the virtues and 
good qualities taken from her, those lofty virtues and 
fine qualities which cause the Americans rightly to be 
called a great nation ; while she sees you proceed with 
steadfast steps onward to times of grandeur and 
splendour ! 

And amidst your successes, gentlemen, — with true 
Dutch constancy, — you keep up, with religious fervour, 
the memory of your descent, you indeed pay a true 
devotion to your parent. 

Thank you, gentlemen, for that devotion in behalf 
of Holland — whose principal representative amongst 
you it is my good fortune to be, an honour that I most 
highly value — in behalf of Holland I thank you. 

Look — from the opposite shores of the Atlantic 
that old parent stretches her hands as though calling 
Heaven to bless you ! 

Tears pour from her eyes at your success ! 

My king and people, gentlemen — yon noble descend- 
ants of our common ancestors ! — send you, through me, 
their humble proxy, words of friendship and affection. 

They send their best wishes for your prosperity and 
happiness, which is to say, for the prosperity and hap- 
piness of this great Union. 

You, also, have a motto in connection with the 
escutcheon of your country — E plurihus iinum. 

Now, gentlemen, I return a sentiment to this motto 
— or rather to your great Union — which is the alj^ha 
and omega of American greatness ! 

Keep her up, gentlemen, mindful of that old saying 
of former Dutch times : Eeiidragt raaoM magt — Union 
makes strength! 

God bless you ! 



37 
The tentli toast was then given: 

Toast 10. — Civil and Religious Liberty — they first flourished to- 
gether m Holland. Her descendants in this city, honoured in her ex- 
ample, will ever preserve them inviolate. 

Music. — " Suoni la TromhaP [Puritani.) 

This toast was briefly responded to by Lieutenant 
Van Damme, who gave — ■ 

The parallel between the Dutch Declaration of Independence of 
1581, and the American Declaration of 1776. 

Also, by Captain Baron Quarles de Quarles: 

Gentlemen, I beg leave to propose a toast, to which 
I know you will all respond, particularly as there is so 
much similarity in the character and noble acts of the 
idol of my country ; you presume that I allude to 
William I., Prince of Orange. Please then, gentlemen, 
let us drink to 

respected and honoured by all nations — all who have 
heard of his noble deeds and many virtues. 

This toast was of course drunk in profound silence, 
standing, and with deep feeling. 

The tenth toast was further responded to by the 
eloquent chaplain of the Society, the Eev. Dr. Vermilye, 
as follows : 

Mr. President — The members of the Saint Nicholas 
Society know very well, from past experience, that I 
cannot make a long speech ; on the present occasion 



38 

I should be glad to make none at all. Wlien I see 
your festive board graced by the presence of so many 
gentlemen able to amuse by their wit, or delight by 
their eloquence, or instruct by their learning, I own I 
should* much prefer to sit still, and listen and enjoy ; 
and I suspect the company would be great gainers by 
such an arrangement. However, sir, your command 
is law to me ; and I will say a few words (for the time 
will allow them to be but few) on the sentiment to 
which you call me to respond. 

But, Mr. President, what a theme is this you have 
just announced ! How well may it claim the outpour- 
ing of the noblest conceptions of the mind, and the 
trumpet-tones of a soul-stirring tongue. " Freedom !" 
How in all ages have the noblest spirits been enam- 
oured with its beauteous form ! how irresistibly has its 
alluring voice led them on to deeds and to sacrifices 
of imperishable renown ! and yet by how few people^ 
and for what short periods, has the boon been ever 
really enjoyed. " Civil and religious freedom !" How 
pregnant is the phrase with matter ! They are house- 
hold words with us. They have been so with our 
fathers ; we hope they will be so with our children in 
the generations to come. But what people in ages 
past have known their meaning ? How large a portion 
of the nations of the Old World are now ignorant of 
the things they import ; and what multitudes sigh and 
struggle in an almost hopeless contest to achieve a 
condition of civil and religious liberty for themselves 
and their posterity ! 

But what is civil freedom ? It is not merely to live 
and breathe ; to eat, to drink, to sleep, to exercise the 
functions of an animal existence only, secure from 
stripes and chains. Is it not rather that man shall 
come to know and possess himself, as a being of soul 



39 

as well as body ; of thought, feeling, affections, as well 
as passions and appetites ; as having rights as well as 
duties — a stake in the community in which he may live, 
and entitled to think and speak and act for its 
welfare, as well as to be subject to its laws, perform 
the service it may require, and sit securely under its 
protecting shield? That is civil freedom, not when 
men are released from obligation to all law and all 
government ; but where law and government, like a 
genial atmosphere, press equally on every side, and do 
not crush, but invigorate and give play to all the 
functions of the body politic ; where the masses and 
not classes merely are regarded ; where each is en- 
couraged to the free exercise of his own powers of 
thought and action, and is allowed to seek his enjoy- 
ment in his own way, so long as he does not interrupt 
the peace and well-being of the community of which 
he is a part, and but a part. 

And what is religious freedom, but that on those 
concerns of the deepest and most enduring interest to 
the individual, i 6., his relations to God and to eternity, 
respecting which each is finally to answer for himself, 
and no mortal can answer for him, each should be per- 
mitted to judge and to act according to the convictions 
of his own mind ; never coerced by the fears of civil or 
ecclesiastical penalties to profess what he does not 
believe ; neither restrained nor enforced in the mode 
by which he shall pay his homage to the infinite Spirit ; 
but interpreting that divine revelation, which is the 
crowning blessing of our lot, by that reason with A^hich 
he is endowed, and urged only by moral means, he 
should be left to his own responsibilities, free to choose 
that creed or that form of worship which suits him 
best, so long, again, as he does not molest the tran- 
quility and welfare of the state at large. In all places 



40 

and at all times it has been the misfortune of the race 
that these simple principles have been overlooked or 
denied. The possessors of power have always aimed 
to enforce their own convictions upon all other minds, 
that so they might extend and strengthen their own 
authority. And in the struggle, truth, conscience, 
right, have been eclipsed ; the bodies and the souls of 
men have suffered cruel wrong. 

You say that in Holland these principles have es- 
pecially prevailed. Yes, sir, and at all times. Almost 
the earliest historical notice of that country furnishes 
an amusing instance of the spirit of civil independence, 
which in subsequent periods has been her marked 
characteristic. Pliny tells us that while their country 
was yet a wretched morass, flooded twice a day by the 
sea, the amphibious inhabitants dwelling in rude huts, 
and subsisting on fish caught from the refluent waters 
in nets of rushes, deplored their hard fate when they 
were incorporated with the majestic Roman empire ! 
And to Holland, above all other nations of modern 
times, the high distinction does certainly belong of 
having been foremost in giving practical effect to any 
thing like just principles of civil and religious freedom. 
We must go back for their date to the epoch of the 
Reformation. They had been slowly wrought out by 
ages of bitter oppression, and it is not wonderful that 
they should at first have been but imperfectly com- 
prehended and reduced to practice. In no Catholic 
country were they allowed scope ; they are not to this 
day. Among the Reformers in France it could not 
be, for they never possessed the supreme power. In 
Great Britain, although the movement emanated from 
the throne, and was therefore allied with power, yet 
it was instigated, beyond a doubt, by private interest, 
overruled, indeed, by a divine Providence for infinite 



41 

good. But from that circumstance it clearly took its 
complexion : nor was Henry VIII., nor any of the 
Tudor race, likely to let slip from their grasp the reins 
of ecclesiastical or civil despotism, or brook the smallest 
sign of dissent from their imperious will. In Scotland, 
most untoward circumstances seemed to preclude the 
possibility of establishing a full and free toleration, 
even if the disposition to do so did then exist among 
the leaders of the Protestant parties, or accorded with 
the workings of the national mind. But in Holland — 
in Protestant Holland — there was freedom for all. 
Jews and Gentiles were there at liberty in their re- 
ligious professions ; Catholic as well as Protestant 
might enjoy his convictions and his worship, if only 
he would abstain from plots against the state ; and 
even the Remonstrant might remain unmolested if he 
would go out from the bosom of that church whose 
creed he was subverting, while receiving dignity and 
support from its benefices. Nor did her noble liber- 
ality comfort and encourage her own children alone ; 
but she freely opened her arms to receive the perse- 
cuted and down-trodden of every race who sought her 
shores. When the Puritans could find no asylum in 
England, they fled to Holland, and were kindly wel- 
comed and fostered. When at various times France 
was steeped in the blood of her slaughtered saints, and 
when especially hundreds of thousands of wretched 
Huguenots, at the revocation of the edict of Nantes, 
sought to escape fi"om the " booted missionary," they 
fled to Holland, until it was said, " Holland is full, and 
can receive no more." There they had personal se- 
curity and civil liberty ; there they were permitted to 
institute their own worship, and were supplied with 
churches at the expense of the state. To Holland 
were reformers of every other nation indebted for 



42 

shelter in those troubled times. Republican Holland, 
beyond contradiction, deserves tlie glory of having been 
"the home of every exile, the refuge of all the oppressed." 
She has a brilliant history. In science and the arts of 
social life; in literature and theological learning; in 
commerce and in arms, that little republic that from 

" the watery roar 
Scooped out an empire and usurped the shore," 

stands peerless in renown. What a contrast may be 
drawn, if any are so disposed, between Saint Mark's of 
republican Venice, and the Stadt House of Protestant 
Amsterdam ! Holland gave constitutional liberty to 
England itself, in the person of William of Orange ; 
and doubtless the exemplar of our own civil confeder- 
acy is to be sought less among the states of Greece or 
Rome, than in the United Provinces of the Nether- 
lands. Yet illustrious as she may well be deemed on 
these accounts, I think it her greater glory that in 
those days of exasperated discussion and but dawning 
light, she had the perspicacity to discover, and the 
moderation and wisdom to practise, full religious 
toleration. 

And has not this same spirit ever animated her sons 
and pervaded their history in this country? Here, 
too, Scotch Covenanter and French Huguenot, the 
Quaker and the Jew, have had a home. Here, too, 
while as in the Fatherland, the Dutch have ever been 
tenacious of their own civil rights and religious 
opinions and modes of worship, they have cheerfully 
and practically accorded to others that liberty they 
claimed for themselves. Her sons had a large share 
in producing the revolution that for ever freed this 
land from all transatlantic domination, and placed 
our resources and our destiny, under God, in our own 
hands. And to them, certainly, as much as to any 



43 

other portion of our people, was it owing that no 
religious tests should be imposed, and no one creed 
established by law as the religion of the state, and 
no sect raised to a lordly predominance over all 
others. I thank God that it is so : that religion is left 
to exert its own proper influence over the minds and 
hearts of the community, unawed by the frowns and 
unrelaxed by the blandishments of civil power. Hers 
is a free as well as a pure spirit. It languishes away 
amidst the gloom of cloisters into a dreary supersti- 
tion ; it dies under despotic rule, civil or ecclesiastical ; 
but it is joyous, intelligent, God-fearing — blessing the 
possessor and blessing the race, when permitted to 
walk abroad under the open heavens — to look on the 
sun shining in its brightness — to inhale the atmosphere 
which comes fresh and full, fraught with odours gath- 
ered from every field of the Creator's bounteous do- 
mains. Sir, we have these blessings, and hold them 
as our own birthright. On us devolves the responsibility 
of transmitting them unimpaired to future times. But 
they are to be retained and perpetuated only by 
eternal vigilance, and by the resolute maintenance of 
certain mighty agents now at work, and that have 
ever been allowed to work among us, moulding the 
thoughts, the principles, and the institutions of the 
country ; making the people free, and keeping them 
so. Let the popular mind be educated ; let religious 
truth be diffused, and religious influences fostered ; let 
our citizens be encouraged to use their high privileges ; 
but let them be made to feel also that responsibilities 
to their own age, and all coming ages, are bound up 
with the possession and use of their unparalleled 
liberty. Popular education, an untrammelled press, 
and an open Bible, have been proved to be the bul- 
warks of a free state, and the most determined an- 



44 

tagonists of despotism, in every form, and in every age 
and place. Let us resolutely uphold these, sir, and 
we need not fear the world in arms. Our course, 
under a favouring Providence, will be onward still ; and 
our example will thus prove the most effectual aid to 
all who are struggling to establish the reign of civil 
and religious freedom, against the might of every op- 
pressor, priestly and political. 

The President then gave — ■ 

Toast 11. — The Fair Daughters of New Amsterdam. 

Music. — '^''Here's a health to all good lasses." 

Mr. John D. Van Beuren, in one of his characteristic 
humorous speeches, responded as follows : 

He said — It was not a light task that was given 
to him — to do the talking for all the women of 
New York. But no honour was without its pro- 
portionate duty; and he knew no more honourable 
position than that he occupied, representing the 
better half of all New York. He was made to-night 
the ladies' mouthpiece. He knew how sweet it was 
to be a lady's mouthpiece, but would prefer being 
employed by them in that capacity one by one, and 
in a less company than that. It is right (said he) 
that woman's voice should be heard on this occasion ; 
for we have been, all the evening, going through that 
great event, the birth of New York; and I never 
knew a birth amount to much without a woman. 

Our sex joins yours, Mr. President, most heartily 
in giving a warm greeting to your guests this evening. 
Your guests are the blood-relations of New York's 
early love. And we women like early love ; the 
earlier the better, after girlhood — to say nothing of 
widowhood. We do not forget it was around a Dutch 



45 

ship that the virgin waters of Isew York clung in 
their first embrace. It was a lawful embrace and 
fruitful. Many here are of its fruits. Others are the 
issue of the second connection which New York formed 
in her colonial youth. That was a forced match ; 
nevertheless it produced good and abundant fruit. 
Others, again, are of the stray children of France, whom 
their mother turned out of doors because they would 
not go to church with her, and whom New York 
adopted into her little family. All the branches of 
that early family are here to-night to do honour to 
men of the same blood as was New York's first love. 
Those who have long occupied this splendid structure, 
our city, are here to acknowledge their obligations to 
those who laid its foundation ; who fixed the founda- 
tion in a good soil and laid it strong, solid, broad, as 
Dutchmen's foundations ought to be. It was a great 
day — that on which the corner-stone of New York 
was laid. Sacrilegious proposals have been made, of 
late, to remove by gunpowder that ancient corner- 
stone from where it now lies quietly and harmlessly 
under the water, off the Battery. The enormous esti- 
mates for the requisite powder prove how well our 
forefathers did their work. Modern improvement has 
become very daring. Already, in the past year, 
it has laid its bold hands upon Hell-gate itself, 
and has succeeded in destroying one of the chief 
columns of that ancient gateway through which so 
many have passed. The removal of obstructions from 
that passage seems to me, like many modern reforms, 
little conducive to human happiness. It is common to 
many modern reformers to be ignorant of that great 
teacher — the Past. So — they call their operations at 
Hell-gate, removing natural obstructions. Natural 
obstructions ! Why, we women know history better 



46 

than that. Pot Rock never grew where it was found. 
It was planted there — planted out, when of full size, 
by our broad-backed forefathers. There was no such 
place as Hell-gate in this region, till the Dutchmen 
came. It was a part of their system of fortification 
against the Yankees. They meant that no Yankee 
should get into New York without first undergoing 
a purification by fires warmer than those of purgatory. 
The Yankees were not men to be scared in that 
way — well for us they were not. Without the 
Yankees, you could not to-night lay before your guests 
this well-spread table. But for the Yankees, you could 
not exhibit to them, with pride, the splendid, active, 
populous, spirited city that now surrounds you. 

It has been said by one of the ablest of modern his- 
torians, that " the spirit of the age was present when 
the foundations of New York were laid." It was elo- 
quently said. And, what is better, it is true. Our 
own beloved ancient historian, Diedrich Knickerbocker, 
in whom we women take as much delight as we do in 
his graver brother, records the same fact — of a spiritual 
presence on that great occasion. And when it is con- 
sidered that, of these two historians, one was born 
down East, (and anj place might be proud of his birth,) 
and the other was a New-Yorker, (and all New York 
is proud of his birth,) any fact upon which they can 
a2:ree must be true. The Eastern historian conceals 
the name of the presiding spirit of the day — I trust 
not from jealousy. But our own faithful chronicler 
gives the name in full. The Spirit that guided and 
blessed the heavy work of the heavy Dutchmen who 
undertook to lay the first course of the magnificent 
edifice, New York, was none of your flimsy modern 
spirits, such as are, nowadays, carried about the coun- 
try in airy menageries by Prosperos in petticoats — he 



47 

was no other than our own real, live, merry, baby-lov- 
ing spirit, Santa-Claus. 

I am proud, Mr. President, to represent that sex 
without whom Paradise itself, after it had been fash- 
ioned for man by the hands of the Creator, was still 
found imperfect. The garden of Eden was barren till 
woman came into it. There was not in the whole 
garden a warm, comfortable bed, till woman came to 
make it. Eden was dark and its beauties unseen, till 
woman illuminated it; and from that day to this, 
woman, as mother, wife, daughter, sister, is God's dis- 
penser of sunshine in this otherwise dreary world. 
Alas for those who pass their lives always in the shade ! 
— my poor friend s, the bachelors. The gloom in which 
they live serves to render more brilliant to their far- 
off gaze the sunlight they cannot reach. It was the 
bitterest punishment of Milton's fallen archangel that 
he could still see the heaven he dared not enter. It 
is my belief — and it is the belief of my constituents 
— that no bachelor gets to heaven. That blessed land 
is filled witb joyous and harmonious groups and con- 
stellations. There is no place for lone stars. Your single 
star, with its unaided light, can shine only in darkness. 
Your bachelor would be as lonely there as he is here. 
He would have no attendant angels. He has refused 
the company of angels here. He has no wife ; he 
ought to have no daughter ; he deserves to have no 
mother ; and if he kas a sister, she has left him, to be the 
guardian angel of some wiser and better man. He is un- 
fit even for Mahomet's paradise. And if heaven consist, 
as many think, of the sweet and virtuous memories of 
this life, what recollections have the bachelors sweet 
enough to keep so long, or sweet enough to be worth 
preserving ? May those of them, for whom there is yet 
time, mend their ways and improve their prospects ! 



48 

You have called me up, sir, so late in the evening, 
that I have no time, between this and daybreak, to do 
half justice to the powers of utterance and the powers 
of endurance of the sex I represent. I will not attempt 
it ; but will merely add, that we women like the 
Dutch blood; we find it makes steady husbands 
and sure fathers. We like that nice little fellow, 
Santa-Claus. He takes care of the babies. And 
any he, who helps take care of the babies, be he 
saint or sinner, flesh or spirit, deserves woman's 
warmest feelings. We are grateful to him, sir j 
and in token of it you will find us always ready 
to receive the sons of Saint Nicholas with open 
arms. 

New York, Mr. President, will not forget her found- 
ers. She cannot, if she would. The Dutch blood 
has left its marks upon her — marks not to be obliter- 
ated so long as one stone of New York is left upon 
another. There is a Dutch blood-stain upon every 
one of her countless stoojys. In all her workshops, the 
boss displays the mark. And there is a broad, deep 
mark of Dut<;h blood on Sandy Hooh, to remind every 
stranger entering the gates of New York, who it was 
that first opened those glorious gates. New York 
may well remember her founders. In her present day 
of pride and prosperity, in the midst of her own gigantic 
enterprises, it will not lessen her pride, it will not 
check her enterprise, to remember that, however after- 
Vards nurtured, she was born of the people who long 
led the way for Northern Europe to commercial great- 
ness. When the exile and the persecuted seek her 
hospitality. New York may worthily remember that 
she sprang from a people who, when toleration was 
elsewhere unknown as a virtue, and when all other 
doors were shut, opened wide their doors to exiles 



49 

from all climes, to the persecuted for all opinions, po- 
litical and religious, of whatever shade or degree, and 
sheltered, in their limited home, the victims of all 
Europe's intolerance. And if the sons of New York 
should ever (far distant be the day !) be called upon 
to meet in hostility the proud nation that so long 
claimed the dominion of the sea, they may remember 
with profit, and without derogation of their patriotism, 
that one element of the mixed fluid in their veins is 
the blood of Tromp and De Ruyter. 

I give you, Mr. President, in behalf of the ladies : 

The people who brought into the world the infant New York — 
all honour to the mother of Hercules. 

The regular toasts having been fully honoured and 
responded to, the President called for the volun- 
teers. Many of these were given ; and such as have 
been procured, are appended. 

Mr. James H. Kip, second Vice President, with a 
few remarks, offered the following : 

Martin Harpertsen Tromp — Admiral-General of the United 
Provinces — the friend of his sailors, the scourge of his country's 
foes. By his noble virtues, firm character, and undaunted bravery 
he rendel'ed the Naval Power of Holland for a time triumj)hant on 
the Seas. 

Mr. Frederic de Peyster, fourth Vice President, 
being called upon, spoke as follows : 

In responding, Mr. President, to your ccdl^ I shall 
bear in mind that we are fast approaching "the dead 
waste and middle of the night," when spirits — unlike 
" the majesty of buried Denmark" — are yet to charm us 
with their words of eloquence and wit — and shall strive 
to be brief in the desultory remarks suggested by the 



50 

occasion. If in tliese days, wlien to tlie " initiated" the 
past is no longer obscure or its tenants speecliless, 
the ancient burghers who here kept ward and watch, 

" As harbingers preceding still the fates, 
And prologue to the omen coming on," 

should be made to revisit " the glimpses of the moon," 
and contrast the march of progress from the time the 
" Half-Moon" first cleft the waters of our Hudson with 
its adventurous keel, to the arrival of the noble 
stranger now at anchor in our harbour ; how gloriously 
would they find realized the advice from their Father- 
land to their infant city : Let every peaceful citizen 
enjoy freedom of conscience ; this maxim has made 
our city (of Amsterdam) the asylum for fugitives 
from every land ; tread in its steps and you shall 
be blessed." Add to this, the local advantages, the 
liberal inducements otherwise held out to obtain 
" population, known to be the bulwark of every 
state," and the civil immunities extended to those 
who made New Amsterdam their home ; and freely 
may we award to the directors who had in charge 
the colony which our State embraces, the planting 
of the germ which now spreads abroad its fruitful 
boughs and luxuriant branches. 

The presence of our guests reminds me, sir, of 
many events connected with the first arrival of their 
countrymen in our beautiful bay, and their final de- 
parture from the " happily situated province," which 
the New Netherlanders, with filial regard, delighted 
to think might " become the granary of the Father- 
land 5" with paternal sympathy, ofi'er their " country- 
men a safe retreat ;" and with patriotic pride, would 
exhibit in a few years " a mighty people." 

From the day when the Onrust — the Rover — so 
named in reference to the spirit of those times, and 



51 

the first vessel built in our port — was launched into 
its appropriate element, to the sailing of the Surinam, 
44, the last man of war of Holland which bore 
afloat, in 1674, its flag from our waters, to be replaced 
by that of England, in token that the Dutch dynasty- 
was here at an end ; the policy of the home govern- 
ment had laid the foundations of the welfare of this 
city broad and deep, and we of this day owe to Hol- 
land a debt of gratitude for this wise and judicious 
course. 

Dutch sympathies are strong. The love of their 
Fatherland, and of the institutions which have 
made Holland great, though in territory small — from 
efforts, gigantic; and by results, rich and powerful; 
early showed itself in this their ancient colony. The 
Hollanders loved to associate their new home with 
that which they had left, and to keep alive the 
memories of those who had fought, bled, and died 
in the cause of their freedom and glorious struggles 
for liberty. When in the year prior to the final 
restoration of the name of "New York,''— a name now as 
then most inappropriate and exceptionable, — which 
had supplanted that of " New Amsterdam," — was 
changed to that of " New Orange ;" a compliment 
was thereby intended to be paid to a House, whose 
princes had nobly battled in the cause of Holland, 
and who were linked with the prominent glories of 
that kingdom, in the terrible conflicts in which were 
at stake all that was dear to freemen, — their civil 
and religious rights. 

The House of Orange gave to Holland William 
the First and Maurice his son, and the Third William^ 
some of 

" The few — the immortal names, 
That were not born to die ! " 



52 

Tlieir deeds stir our hearts at every recital, as tlie 
trumpefs notes whose martial airs awake the echoes 
of the night; or the recollections of "the quality 
and circumstance" of their " glorious war !" We ; the 
people of every free land ; and the oppressed who 
sigh for liberty ; cherish their memories for the sake 
of the principles they contended for, and render to 
this noble House the honour due to chivalric 
deeds. 

But, sir, whilst rendering our hearty acknowledge- 
ments to its gallant princes, to whom the world at 
large is so much indebted, we should, as Americans, 
pause — lest the glitter of their fame and their struggle 
for the common rights which the nation contended 
for and maintained, should blind us to the hereditary 
claim which this House set up to an office, to which, 
by the charter of Holland, it was originally ineligible. 
If I admire the extraordinary abilities and devoted 
firmness of these renowned leaders, scions of the 
House of Orange, I love the chartered liberties of the 
land more — and rejoice that their inviolability was 
happily preserved — most probably — by the death of 
William the Second. 

I hope, sir, I may be pardoned in this allusion to 
an incident, which no deeds of martial renown should 
obliterate, where the attempt was to strike at the root 
of the principles which were vital to the body politic, 
and where the blow might have proved fatal to their 
fair tree of Liberty. I know how deep is the attach- 
ment of Hollanders to those loyal princes whose ef- 
forts were for the common good, and who aided in pre- 
servino; and defendino; their cherished emblem ! but 
not of such, but of other motives and attempts I 
speak, that, if successfully carried out, would have 
lopped off the branches which have afforded grateful 



53 

shelter and safety, not only to their own people, but 
to the oppressed of every nation, whom the hospitali- 
ty and liberality -of Holland welcomed to its shores. 

The hospitality of Holland ! yes ! The persecuted 
of every clime found in that enlightened kingdom both 
succour and safety ! and we. Sons of Saint Nicholas, 
are. pajdng a small, though heartfelt, return to the 
representatives present from that land from which 
our ancestors came ; many of whom, like the Pilgrim 
Fathers of N^ew England, were for one or more genera- 
tions, but sojourners there ; and shall ever as a nation 
owe a debt of gratitude to it for the warm reception 
and unfettered privileges alike extended to all ! They 
are entitled to our warmest welcome, and happy are 
we therefore to extend to them, as Hollanders, the 
right hand of fellowship. 

But, sir, I turn to another theme pregnant with 
instructive lessons, and strikingly illustrative of the 
country to which our honoured guests belong. The 
war, which raged for sixty-eight years, carried on by 
the most powerful of the European monarchies 
against the minor kingdom of Holland, involved 
in the issue all that is dear to men who love their 
liberties, as life itself, and— dearer than life — free- 
dom of conscience. It was a contest between a 
bigoted tyrant, striving by the most remorseless 
cruelties to destroy the chartered rights of a brave 
people, and substitute his own cruel and despotic 
sway, and a liberty-loving nation to preserve these 
rights and their religious freedom. 

This sanguinary struggle is full of thrilling inci- 
dents. One with difficulty can select from the cloud 
of witnesses which testify to their indomitable courage, 
the evidence which best illustrates the character of 
the people. Let me, sir, for a few moments detain 



54 

you, whilst I advert to the memorable siege of Ley- 
den, to show how effectually a determined people, 
animated by a just cause, can submit to the extremest 
sufferings, and conquer amidst difficulties and dangers, 
terrible to endure ; appalling from the cruelties which 
were inflicted, and even now repulsive from the worse 
than savage ferocity which actuated their foes, pro- 
fessing to be believers in doctrines which inculcate 
" good will among men." It is even now matter of 
astonishment how the citizens of Leyden triumphed 
under circumstances which seemed to baffle every 
hope of relief, and which threatened them with ir- 
remediable defeat. During the dreadful famine, 
which prevailed, when every thing which could be 
eaten was devoured, even leaves, skins, and offal ; 
when fair maidens partook of the most offensive food ; 
and when starvation stalked as conqueror in the halls 
of high and low alike, the plague broke out ! 

Then arose with some the open suggestion — is not 
surrender unavoidable? Peter Vanderwerf — a burgo- 
master — ^is questioned. " Never," he replied ; " bread 
1 have not — here is my body — divide it amongst you." 
Staggered by such unflinching perseverance, the Span- 
iards again sought to succeed by well-timed induce- 
ments. They had proved faithless to their most 
solemn obligations, which they grossly and basely 
violated by the plea that faith was not to be kept 
with heretics. From the ramparts the citizens re- 
plied, " When all food shall fail, we will eat our left 
arms, while we fight you to the last with the right." 
And they added, " If God, as He justly may, deliver 
us into your hands, we will burn ourselves with our 
city, ere we will become your slaves." 

Then the Assembly at Rotterdam decreed that the 
dykes should be opened — for they alleged — it were 



55 

better tliat our country be desolated, tban utterly 
lost. The waters of the Maas, which seemed to diso- 
bey a natural impulse, as if desirous to test the inex- 
tins:uishable devotion of the brave inhabitants of 
Leyden, on a change of wind poured over the land ; 
bringing succour to the besieged, and spreading, in 
hitherto suspended fury, defeat and death among the 
ruthless and disconcerted invaders ! 

I have selected this memorable siege, from the in- 
tense interest the incidents connected with it incon- 
testably furnish ; and from the general application of 
one of these, wherever popular opinion is supreme, 
and should be properly and intelligently exercised. 

The brave burghers of Leyden were under the lead- 
ership of the Poet Van-der-Does, who attributed, under 
Providence, their successful resistance, not alone to the 
valiant behaviour of the citizens, for he declared — 

" N^on opus est gladiis, ferroque rigentibus armis ; 
Solae pro Batavo belligerantur aquse," — 

Nor sword nor spear deliverance brought, 
The waves alone for Holland fought, 

and acknowledged the divine protection when, with 
this resistless aid, he adds — 

Pro quibus oceanus pugnat, et ipse Deus ! 
The sea protects and God's own hand ! 

In reward of this signal endurance on the part of 
the inhabitants, it was a Prince of Orange who gave 
to Leyden its celebrated University ; which they pre- 
ferred, when the choice of gifts was submitted to 
them ; adding to their merited distinction this means 
of better enlightening a people always alive to the 
benefits of education and the diffusion of sound and 
useful knowledge. 

In the course of this siege, the Spanish commander, 

LOfg. 



56 

fearing lest lie sliould lose his prey, after tlie most 
guarded efforts liad been taken to starve out tlie town, 
artfully invited the inhabitants to make their own 
terms of capitulation. They had not forgotten the 
late perfidy of their cruel and treacherous foe. 

On a slip of paper the citizens returned this brief 
answer : 

"Fistula dulce canit, volucrera dum decipit auceps." 
The fowler sweetly pipes, whilst he spreads his net for the bird ! 

This incident teaches a general lesson to a people 
proud of their intelligence ; and who, as sovereigns, 
should select for their leaders, men having the public 
good at heart, not private advantage or mere party 
interests. It warns them to beware of the political 
nightingales, whose throats swell with dulcet sounds 
when they would beguile the public into snares, cun- 
ningly laid, to entrap their zeal, excite prejudices, and 
lull them into forgetfulness, that the object and aim 
of their suffrage is to promote the public weal, not 
party and selfish purposes ! 

I have referred to the dawn of the lYth century, 
distinguished by the discovery which extended the 
sway of Holland over this portion of the New World, and 
which witnessed the first arrival of Hudson, whose name 
is kept ever before us by the river which majestically 
courses by our city. The close of its third quarter 
saw the final departure of the Hollanders. This 
century was the era of the national greatness of that 
people ! Spain was vanquished ! The hosts of France 
were repelled. And the fleets of England, which 
from commercial rivalry and in time of peace joined 
in the crusade to crush a people struggling to preserve 
their national existence, their political rights, and the 
Protestant religion, professed by both, were compelled 



57 

to seek shelter in their own ports from the pursuit of 
their intended victim. 

Throughout these manifold attempts to destroy the 
nationality of Holland, William of Orange, incapable 
of yielding, declared he would rather die in the last 
ditch. His countrymen caught the fiery spirit of 
their bold leader, and the whole nation rose as one 
man to meet the dire emergency. In June, 16 74, 
in two singularly severe but indecisive fights, the 
fleets of Holland and of Ens'land contended for the 
mastery: but in August following, De Ruyter and 
Tromp proved themselves, by the blessing of Heaven, 
the champions of their country, and their baffled 
enemy, with his battered ships, sought safety in flight. 

These naval conflicts are among the hardest fought 
battles old Ocean has witnessed ! The redoubtable 
Blake was worthy to test the skill and the metal of 
his distinguished opponents. During the latter en- 
gagement, the booming of the cannon reverberated 
along the shores of Holland, and multitudes of her 
people, brought to the coast by the proximity of the 
contending squadrons, raised their uplifted hands to 
Heaven, and in ardent prayer to that God who 
giveth the victory to whom He will, besought that 
the right might prevail ! Their prayer was heard ! 
Holland thus preserved herself a nation ! 

The presence of the successors of the naval heroes 
of Holland revives these reminiscences of their coun- 
try's trials and of her triumphs ! Here, among the de- 
scendants of those who once acknowledged the same 
Fatherland, they find sympathizing friends, who, as 
Americans, are not deaf to the cries of the oppressed, 
or insensible to the wrongs inflicted by despotic power 
or military misrule — past or present ! 

They are among those who still cherish the few 



- 58 

vestiges which remain of customs peculiar to Holland, 
the land of popular rights and of enlightened freedom ! 
Throughout our own beloved land the plough of 
modern reform and rapid improvements is making its 
furrows wide and deep for better and more skilful 
culture. Consistently, may we wish that these vestiges 
may not be 'wholly rooted out or perish by neglect ; 
for these help to remind us of the simplicity, the in- 
dustry, and the probity of those ancient burghers from 
whom we trace our descent ; who adorned their lives 
and exemplified their conduct under the influences of 
these modest, but matchless characteristics. 

When William the Third, Prince of Oi'ange, be- 
came King of England, he there took for his motto 
" Je mai7itiendrai'''' — I will maintain. This was after 
the manner of Charlemagne, who, when he had im- 
pressed a treaty with the pummel of his sword, at a 
time when knights and cavaliers 

" did hold it, as our Statists do, 

A baseness to write fair," 

on handing this to the ambassador in attendance, thus 
sealed, said, "With its point I will maintain the 
conditions !" 

In this spirit of inviolable good faith and regard 
for plighted word, may we, as a people, imitate this 
chivalric pledge. William was in the vigour of his 
manhood and fame when he declared his adhesion to 
this principle, that cements humanity in brotherhood. 
The pilgrims, who found a secure refuge among the 
Hollanders, have left their witness of these virtues of 
their hospitable hosts. English rivalry has sought 
to depreciate the valour, which time and ample proofs 
have thoroughly established. English literature most 
current among us, has painted the foibles of the Dutch 
in lights intended to diminish in lustre the traits of 



59 

character whicli truly distinguisli them. But truth 
in time will eradicate error. A people rising into 
acknowledged greatness, depending more upon their 
own intellectual resources, and second to none in all 
that constitutes a first-rate power, will learn to judge 
for themselves, and award merit to whom it is sub- 
stantially due. 

The Hollanders have proved themselves men su- 
perior to sufferings and death, whenever their vital 
liberties were at stake. They have shown into what 
depths of misery a nation will cheerfully and resolute- 
ly plunge, when their homes, their religion, and their 
native land are in peril ! In the spirit of the Chief- 
tain of the House, whose name the gallant ship now 
in our port proudly bears, may they ever faithfully 
maintain those princij^les which the earlier assemblies 
of the deputies of their several towns cherished and 
applied ; and which subsequently the Assembly of the 
States preserved at every hazard, as the very founda- 
tions of their civil and reli2:ious freedom ! 

Permit me, sir, in conclusion, to give you as a 
toast : 

Holland ! Like the coral insect which builds its rampart amidst 
the waste of waters, impregnable to the fury of the waves ; she has, 
by her indomitable industry and skill, reclaimed from old Ocean a 
dominion, the emblem and the bulwark of her own national character 
and greatness ! 

Mr. John Romeyn Brodhead, having been called 
upon, said: 

I feel a peculiar pleasure, Mr. President, in assisting 
to welcome here the guests who have come to visit us 
from that Fatherland where so many happy years of 
my own life have been passed. Although it is nearly 
two centuries since the eighth day of September, 1664, 



60 

when tlie Dutch ensign was liauled down from tlie 
flag-staff of Fort Amsterdam, tlie descendants of those 
who sent the first emigrants to these shores have not 
forgotten the children of those who established their 
homes in the Batavian province of New Netherland. 
There is yet a strong bond of attachment which 
stretches far across the sea. We are remembered — we 
are proudly claimed as sons — in the Low Lands at the 
mouth of the Rhine. May our sympathy and our 
friendship be j^erpetual ! 

Our guests, sir, have seen something of us, and we 
of them. I regret that the speedy return of their fine 
vessel prevents their seeing more. They would have 
observed the deep marks which their Fatherland has 
left upon New York. We see those marks all around 
us. The names of many of our places and streets are 
Dutch names ; and in many of the counties of . our 
State the Dutch language — I do not mean the Ger- 
Qiian — is still vernacular. The anniversaries of Saint 
Nicholas and Paasch are celebrated here as genially as 
in Holland. The proclamation by government author- 
ity in this State, of days of thanksgiving and days of 
fasting, is a custom which the early Dutch Directors of 
New Netherland derived from Holland, where it had 
existed long before the first European landed at Man- 
hattan or New Plymouth. The first Domine and the 
first schoolmaster in this State came from Amsterdam ; 
and in many a New York family is yet preserved the 
brass-clasped, black-lettered Leyden Bible, which its 
ancestor brought hither with him. Perhaps, sir, in 
some respects we have improved upon our model. If 
Holland taught us how to construct canals. New York 
has even excelled her teacher. Fenelon is supposed 
to have described Old Amsterdam as the Tyre of his 
day. I believe that some among us here may live to 



61 

see New Amsterdam the acknowledged commercial 
metropolis of the world. She certainly has always 
imitated the example of her founder in welcoming 
strangers of every race and of every creed who would 
make her their home ; nor have those strangers been 
backward in appreciating the advantages of keeping 
" fire and light" among her Autochthones. 

We have every right, Mr. President, to feel proud 
of ancestral Holland. Her history is the great history 
of a little country and a magnanimous people. But 
our Dutch forefathers, though an earnest race, were a 
quiet, unpresumj)tuous race. They were more in the 
habit of working than of boasting, or blowing the 
trumpet of fame. Well, sir, they could afford to be 
modest. History — at least English and American 
history — has hitherto scarcely done them justice. Yet 
truth must always triumph over prejudice and depre- 
ciation ; and I trust that a more worthy estimate will 
hereafter be formed of the character and the influence 
of those who contributed so much toward the estab- 
lishment of American liberality and American free- 
dom, and who, in the hour of need, lent such generous 
aid to the American Confederation. The distinguished 
gentleman [Mr. Verplanck] to whose admirable ad- 
dress we have listened with so much pleasure, has 
well adverted to many of these points. I fully agree 
with him in giving due praise to all who were con- 
cerned in laying the foundations of our Republic. 
There is one point, however, which, it seems to me, has 
heretofore been too much overlooked, and to which I 
am glad that our guest. Lieutenant Van Damme, has 
referred — I mean the Dutch Declaration of Independ- 
ence, in 1581. Two years before that time, in 1579, 
the Northern Provinces of the Netherlands formed the 
famous Union of Utrecht, and adojDted the national 



62 

motto, wliicli is displayed above your chair, — 
"Eendragt maakt magt," itnity makes might. But, 
sir, the Dutch not only taught us practical lessons in 
the doctrines of a firm confederation, and of the 
reserved rights of sovereign states; they gave us a 
noble precedent for our own Declaration of Independ- 
ence. Let any one carefully read the Manifesto of the 
States-General on the 26th day of July, 1581, de- 
claring the King of Spain deposed, and the United 
Netherlands independent — in which the great truth 
is boldly proclaimed and maintained, that tlie p€02J>l6 
are twt made for tlie prince^ hut the prince for the people^ 
wlw have always the right to depose him if he shoidd 
oppress them j let it be remembered that this Dec- 
laration was published one century before the English 
Declaration of Right, in 1688, and two centuries 
before the American Declaration of Independence in 
1776 ; and then let the question be fairly answered, 
whether Holland has not established her title to be 
called "the mother of free states." I give you, sir, 
as a sentiment — 

Holland, the Mother of Free States. 



At about midnight, the President called to the chair 
the Hon. Gulian C. Verplanck, who continued to preside 
until the company separated. Mr. Verplanck's reap- 
pearance in the chair which he had so often filled with 
dignity and advantage to the Society was the signal 
for a hearty outburst of feeling on the part of the 
members, who welcomed their former presiding ofiSicer 
to his old seat with joy and enthusiasm. 

The festivities were prolonged until the hours 




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63 

of midniglit were long past ; and thus terminated 
the proceedings on an occasion that will be fondly 
remembered by those who had the good fortune to 
participate in them — an earnest that Dutch hospi- 
tality, after a lapse of nearly two hundred years, had 
not waned or grown less genial in the keeping of those 
whose peculiar pride it is to be descended from the 
Fatherland. 








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